


Win!

by jaekayelle



Category: Tennis RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-06
Updated: 2012-07-06
Packaged: 2017-11-09 06:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/452494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaekayelle/pseuds/jaekayelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The cameras found him during the final.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Win!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction and not intended to make assumptions about the lives of the real persons depicted in this story.

When they interviewed Roger after his loss in the 2014 French Open semi-finals they asked how he felt about Rafa beating him. He replied that he was satisfied to have played a good game and joked that he had not been in the same draw as Djokovic, for once, so that helped. 

It was remarked that he did seem to be taking the loss very well. 

#

The cameras found him during the final and, for the first few minutes spent more time on him than they did on the match. John McEnroe laughed when he saw Roger in Rafa's players box and said, “Huh. I wondered how long it would take for one of them to do that.” When Mary Carillo asked what he meant by that he just laughed again and commented on a particular point that had just been played. 

#

It wasn't as if Roger was trying to be incognito. He wore one of his RF caps – a bright red one, like his own father did when he sat in Roger's players box. He was shown talking and laughing with Toni and Sebastian, and wore a look of focused intensity when the match got dramatic. 

#

During the first changeover Rafa glanced up at his family and grinned widely, before sobering his expression and re-arranging his water bottles. It was noted by the camera and Carillo that the smile did not quite leave his face.

#

Match point. Score: 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 5-3, 40-15 for Rafa. Tsonga served. Rafa cracked it back. Jo-Willie swung wide and missed. Rafa dropped to the ground, arms and legs akimbo. Then he raised his hands to cover his face. At least one of the cameras captured Roger on his feet with his fists in the air and uncle Toni, papa Sebastian, sister Maribel and mama Anna Maria hanging off him. All of them leaping up and down. 

Rafa clambered off the ground, his shirt covered in red clay. He trotted to the net to shake hands with Jo-Wilfried, gave him a quick one-armed hug, rubbing the back of Tsonga's head, and then turned towards the stands. Anyone familiar with Rafa winning the French knew what was going to happen next. He raced to the stands, climbing over the wall and not a couple of spectators as well. It took him a minute to navigate his way, but he reached his family and was promptly engulfed by Nadals. He gave and received hugs from Feliciano Lopez and Pau Gasol, saving Toni for next-to-last. They danced and cried together before Toni finally released his protege. Then there seemed to be a collective hush from the crowd around them as Rafa and Roger met in a clash of arms and legs. Roger's cap was knocked off his head but he was too busy congratulating Rafa to notice. 

That they ended up locked in an embrace that was more passion and romance than friendly congratulations given and received, was met with a roar of approval that started nearby and was quickly picked up by many of the stadium's occupants. “Kiss! Kiss!” Finally Roger let Rafa have enough air to breathe and Rafa promptly buried his face against Roger's neck, shoulders heaving and his family moving in again to protect him from the rest of the world. 

“Well,” McEnroe said in the commentators' booth. “That part was unexpected.” 

The microphones picked up the sound of him and Carillo chuckling, while the cameras lingered on the world's no. 1 and no. 2 still locked together. 

# end


End file.
